Thursday, March 24, 2011

"There is an elderly gentleman who has been coming here since he was 13. His mother gave him his first Bombyx butterfly for his first communion. He says he feels immortal when he comes to Deyrolle, because nothing has changed for over 100 years."

. . .

Personal scans from a January, 1985 issue of World of Interiors. To read the full article on Deyrolle, please visit my flickr

While I appreciate the sort of steampunky vibe of the interior spaces of lovers of taxidermy, one thought keeps coming to mind:

DUSTING!

Honestly, can you imagine the time and effort required to maintain all those feathers and furs? I mean, I doubt one uses spray furniture polish on a deer head... can't imagine how you'd keep all that stuff from becoming cobweb encrusted and mungified.

This is the beauty of "magazine magic" - where we love to look at pretty things that are set up for us, as long as we don't have to do it in real life.

Awesome post! I love taxidermy. It is so amazingly creepy. I totally want to be taxidermied when I die. And in my will I will ask that I be placed on the porch so neighborhood kids can dare each other to to come touch my corpse.

Deyrolle!!! That place is gorgeous - unfortunately it has changed though, there was a fire there in 2010. Honestly I forget the exact date, but I wrote an article on it post-rebuilding for Antler magazine vol 2 (the "wunderkrammer" issue), so the information's in there if folks are interested. Such an incredibly magical place, scorch marks and all.

Beautiful! I wish taxidermy wasn't such a taboo thing here, I just think it's amazing. I remember reading an article on this place when it had a fire, I wanted to go so badly! Thanks for sharing these enchanting photos!